IIM graduate refuses job for soccer

Is a better business model the answer to Indian football's troubles? Satyajit thinks so, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Is a better business model the answer to Indian football's troubles? Satyajit Sadanandan, an IIM Lucknow alumnus, thinks so.

Satyajit wants to develop Indian football along the business model followed by European clubs and so, he has turned down a Rs 9 lakh per annum package from JP Morgan Chase and decided instead to take up a threemonth training stint with a prominent soccer club in Europe.

Among the clubs which have invited him are Celtic United (Scotland) and FC Colon (Germany). "Indian football clubs can become self-reliant by generating resources through business," says Sadanandan.

He will get the chance to implement what he learns from his European stint on the Baroda-based Providence club. "Providence is probably the only club in India trying to sustain itself through business," he says.

"The business ventures were initiated to generate funds for promoting football among the village schools in Gujarat and to generate employment opportunities outside the sporting arena."

The clubs have offered to give Sadanandan exposure to modern methods of soccer coaching and an insight into the best practices of professional soccer management. But since they aren’t offering him any stipend, he is seeking corporate sponsorship.

If all goes well, by the year-end clubs like Providence will have a guru — one equally versed in soccer and its business.